Geir Eithun and the Norvergian team proved too strong for Austria in Saturday’s semifinal

Alanya, Turkey,
June 23, 2012. The Netherlands and Norway will fight for the men’s
beach volleyball ticket to the London 2012 Olympics when the two nations
meet in the final game of the CEV Men's Beach Volleyball Continental
Cup on Sunday at Galip Dere Beach in Alanya, Turkey.

The
winners of the tournament will be given a ticket to the Games while the
second, third and fourth placed teams will stay in competition for the last two
Olympic berths on offer at the FIVB World Cup Qualification Tournament
in Moscow, Russia from June 27 to July 1.

In
Saturday’s semifinals, the Netherlands proved too strong for Poland
(3-0), while Norway overpowered Austria in a thrilling series with the
same score.

Poland’s
opening match in today’s first semifinal at Galip Dere Beach was
promising but the Netherlands recouped from a setback with Emiel Boersma
and Daan Spijkers prevailing 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 15-10) over Poland’s
Bartosz Losiak and Piotr Kantor. Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen
followed their Dutch compatriots with a well-deserved 2-0 (21-17, 21-18)
triumph over Michal Kadziola and Jakub Szalankiewicz to make it 2-0 for
the Netherlands after the morning session. After the midday break, the
Dutch express needed a few moments to gather speed, but Boersma/Spijkers
fought back bravely with a 2-1 (13-21, 21-19, 15-10) win over Poland’s
Kadziola/Szalankiewicz to confirm their final spot
.

“We
are very happy to have a 50-50 chance to go to London,” Daan Spijkers
said after the match. “We knew it would be difficult against Poland, but
both Dutch teams were much more focused today. Tomorrow we’ll need
again a top performance to make our dreams come true.”

In
today’s second semifinal clash between Austria and Norway, in the first
duel Tarjei Skarlund/Martin Spinnangr opposing Alexander Huber/Robin
Seidl delighted the fans with outstanding play. After 72 minutes of
tough combat, Norway kept the upper hand, overpowering their Austrian
adversaries Huber/Seidl 2-1 (23-25, 25-23, 15-13). Things didn’t change
in the second match as Iver Horrem/Geir Eithun and Clemens
Doppler/Alexander Horst had another hard-fought battle. The Austrians
won the first set, but Horrem/Eithum came back strongly by beating their
opponents 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-8). Skarlund/Spinnangr put the result
beyond doubt in the third encounter, dashing the Austrian hopes for a
direct qualification to London. The Norwegians defeated Doppler/Horst in
straight sets (21-19, 21-17) to claim Norway’s ticket for Sunday’s
final against the Netherlands.

“Both
Norwegian teams worked greatly together, that’s why we set the pace in
today’s semifinal,” Tarjei Skarlund expalined. “It will be a tough
battle versus the Netherlands. However, we are confident for tomorrow’s
final duel.”

With
the Olympic Games 2012 approaching very quickly, the CEV Beach
Volleyball Continental Cup Final is the last and deciding stage of the
competition with the best European teams stemming from the previous
rounds trying to fulfill their Olympic dream.

Since Friday players from eight countries have been fighting for only one ticket for the London Olympics.
The competition in Alanya will come to an end on Sunday, when the Netherlands face Norway in the gold medal clash.